BackPiramal raises stake in Vodafone India unit
Piramal raises stake in Vodafone India unit
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Mumbai: Piramal Healthcare Ltd said on Saturday it would buy a 5.5% stake in Vodafone’s India unit, Essar, for ₹ 3000 crore ($616.14 million), taking its total stake in the mobile company to about 11%.
The sale would mark the exit of Essar as Vodafone’s joint venture partner in India after the London-listed company last year sealed a long awaited deal to buy out Essar in July.
The world’s biggest cellular carrier by revenue, Vodafone is the largest overseas corporate investor in India.
Vodafone, which entered India in 2007 when it bought control of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd’s India phone business, is the second-largest player by revenue market share behind Bharti Airtel.
The transaction contemplates various exit options for Piramal, including both participation in a potential IPO of the unit and a sale of its stake back to Vodafone, the Indian firm said in a statement.
Vodafone has said it plans to take its India unit public but has not set a timeframe.
The Vodafone stake buy is the cash-flush drugmaker’s second unrelated investment after it bought private equity firms IndiaReit Fund Advisors and IndiaReit Investment Managers.
The company, which last year bought about 5.5% in Vodafone from Essar, was sitting on a cash pile of ₹ 10000 crore, it said last August.
Piramal sold its Indian formulations business to US-based Abbott Laboratories in 2010.
It has been looking for investments outside the pharmaceutical sector and had recently announced a foray into the financial services segment.
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